Today, doing everything I could to avoid writing, I took lunch out and stopped by my local gun shop on the way back. In the bottom of the display case was a US Model of 1917 Smith & Wesson (SN 105xxx) that had been buffed smooth, reblued, and fitted with an ugly pair of truly home made grips. The bore was decent and the gun was "reasonably" tight. All around, a good shooter and something I thought should be in the $400-500 price range. The dealer had -- wait for it -- $899!!! on the sticker. In other words he was asking about the same money one would expect to pay for a gun with about 70% of it's original finish and with proper factory grips.
Remember guys, if you are buying a "Golden Era" handgun, a re-blued gun has zero collector value-- and should be priced accordingly; in other words far less than a gun retaining even 10% of it's original finish.
Remember guys, if you are buying a "Golden Era" handgun, a re-blued gun has zero collector value-- and should be priced accordingly; in other words far less than a gun retaining even 10% of it's original finish.